In which the press deplores the way it is viewed.
Trump tweets across fields of cultured, East Coast derision. In Politico’s view, he defines the press as his “prime adversary”, not a foreign power, or terrorism, or an energy crisis; “he has changed the way we view the press and the way the press views itself.”
As I say, well, yeah… Trump is a relative newcomer when it comes to derision of the press. I’ve been holding them in utter contempt for decades. They are purveyors of half-truths, lies and outright propaganda. They do not present us with impartial facts, they seek to twist and obfuscate in order to peddle their agenda. They are liars and charlatans – and when it comes to anything in which I have personal knowledge and expertise, they are woefully ill-informed. If I was as incompetent and criminally negligent as the “gentlemen of the press” I’d be doing time by now – if not for manslaughter, then for fraud.
Much as I despise politicians, I think, on balance, I regard them as marginally better than the scum of the press.
From Panama to Paradise, the enveloping stories of the last few years have concerned tax avoidance at the top, from politicians to bankers to media moguls. Has that last category of avoiders been pursued as hard as it deserved? Have the bowers of tax-free status been stripped bare? You need no particular barrels of cynicism in your cellar to believe that the chase may have faded because it came dangerously close to touching some men and women very near to home – too close to validating the undermining of trust in journalism.
And there it is; why I despise them. Tax avoidance is perfectly legal. That the wealthy have more tools at their disposal is none of the media’s business, yet they are perfectly happy to indulge in data theft and call it “investigative journalism” in order to peddle their politics of envy. Remember, these moguls are doing something that is legal and their financial affairs are a private matter, yet the criminal classes think they know better.
Until the press returns to presenting impartial facts (if indeed it ever did) then it will deserve derision and contempt.
Even if some of his pronouncements are questionable, Trump’s use of Twitter is a master stroke, in terms of avoiding the press bias and hatred of him. And it must be absolute hell for the company – I’m sure they desperately want to block him, or close his account, but to do so would blow a whole can of worms open.
He’s played a blinder and the media are on the back foot. It’s a delight to see.
I’ve just fired up my shortwave receiver, and the first station I found was the Voice Of America. A studio discussion was underway, with the subject being “The most important story of 2017”. Surprise, surprise it was the “Trump Presidency”, and they clearly are not happy! Loads of whinging about what he was doing – particularly about his attempts to muzzle the media. Oh diddums…
Thing is, he’s not muzzling them. He is merely sidelining them. They have only themselves to blame.
I really couldn’t get my breath when St. Barry told Harry that political use of social media was worrying. No need to be concerned about blatant press bias and attempted manipulation through both print and web editions, obviously. Since they’re almost invariably pro-lib, that’s apparently OK.
A pox on them all and a plague on all their houses!